Refrigerator door shelf arrangement



April 17, 1962 w. M. MORRISSEYY, JR 3,029,953

REFRIGERATOR DOOR SHELFARRANGEMENT Filed Aug. 24, 1960 FIG! INVENTOR.WILLIAM M. MORRISSEY IR H|S ATTORNEY States The present inventionrelates to a refrigerator door shelf arrangement and is particularlyconcerned with a new and improved arrangement for supporting a removabledoor shelf on the inner panel of a refrigerator door.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved refrigerator door shelf arrangement including a low cost shelfand means for removably mounting the shelf in a plurality of verticallyspaced positions on a refrigerator door.

The shelf structure of the present invention is particularly adapted foruse in connection with a refrigerator door of the type having an outershell and an inner liner having a recess therein. The shelf arrangementincludes at least one storage shelf provided with an upstanding orvertical front guard comprising coextensive inner and outer verticalflanges connected along their top edges and spaced apart so that thespaced flanges and the connecting portion at the top edges provides thesole means whereby the shelf is supported on opposed pairs of bossesformed integrally with the side walls of the recess. The upper of eachpair of bosses engages and vertically supports the flange connectingportion and hence the shelf while the lower of each pair of bossesextends between the lower portions of the spaced flanges to preventtilting of the shelf when in its storage position on the door. Aprojection adja cent the lower edge of either the inner or outer flangeis preferably provided to engage the lower surface of the adjacent bossfor locking the shelf in position. In order that the shelf can bemounted within the door recess in any of a plurality of verticallyspaced positions, a row of at least three vertically spaced bosses isformed on each side wall of the recess adjacent the front thereof withthe bosses on the row on one side wall of the recess being horizontallyaligned with the bosses on the other side atent wall. The bosses are ofsuch a size and are spaced a distance such that with the flangeconnecting portion of the shelf in engagement with any two opposedbosses other than the lowermost boss in each row of bosses, the loweredges of the flanges engage the next lower opposed bosses. To permit themounting of the shelf on pairs of adjacent bosses below the uppermostboss, one or both side edges of the inner flange of the front guard ofthe shelf is provided with a notch approximately at the mid sectionthereof and of a size sufficient to permit the ends of the shelf to bemoved horizontally past the opposed bosses. In the preferred form of theinvention the lowermost bosses in each row are larger than the notch ornotches provided in the inner flange to prevent the shelf from beingmounted only on the lowermost bosses in which position it would be freeto tilt or pivot about these bosses.

The novel features which are believed to characterize the presentinvention are set forth with particularity in the appended claim. Theinvention itself, however, may be best understood by reference to thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingin which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of a refrigerator cabinet door in which isincorporated a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section of a refrigerator cabinet and door takengenerally along line 2--2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View illustrating certaindetails of the present invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, there is illustrated arefrigerator cabinet 1 provided with a door 2 for closing the accessopening to the cabinet. The door 2 is of the type having an outer panelor shell 3 and an inner wall or liner 4 preferably formed from a sheetof heat insulating thermoplastic material and provided with a relativelylarge central recess 5 for accommodating one or more door shelves 6extending substantially the full width of the recess. The recess 5essentially includes a rear wall 8 and vertically extending opposed sidewalls 9, only one of which is shown in the drawing, it being understoodthat the opposed side walls 9 for the purpose of the present inventionare symmetrically formed or, in other words, of identical construction.

For the purpose of supporting door shelves within the recess 5 there isformed on each of the side walls 9 adjacent the front thereof at leastone row of vertically spaced bosses or protuberances 11 with each of the'bosses'on one side wall positioned opposite or, more specifically, inhorizontal alignment with the bosses on the other side wall." Thesebosses, or more specifically, two adjacent bosses ineach of the opposedrows provide the sole means for supporting and anchoring a removableshelf within the recess 5. To this end there is provided a shelf formedof sheet metal or the like to include a horizontal load supportingportion 12 and a front guard comprising an inner vertical flange 14, anouter vertical flange 15 and a horizontal connecting portion 16connecting the upper edges of the flanges. The inner and outer flanges14 and 15 are spaced apart and adapted to snugly engage and encloseopposed pairs of bosses 11 when the shelf is mounted within the recess5. More'specifically, the shelf --is so formed that the inner and outerflanges 14 will fit around two adjacent bosses 11 in each of the opposedrows when the shelf is mounted within the recess 5 in such a mannerthat, as illustrated by the lower shelf shown in FIGS/1 and 2, of thedrawing, the uppermost boss of these pairs 12 of the shelf in ahorizontal position. Preferably either the inner flange 14 or the outerflange 15 is provided with a projection 18 extending into the spacebetween these flanges and adapted to engage the lower edges of some ofthe cooperating bosses 11 for the purpose of resiliently anchoring orlocking the shelf in its supported position.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, this pro jection 18 isformed by a rounded or rolled lower edge of the outer flange 15 whichengages the lower edge of the adjacent boss.

As it is most desirable that shelves provided on a refrigerator door becapable of being mounted in any of a plurality of vertically spacedpositions along the door, each of the rows of bosses preferablycomprises at least three spaced projections or bosses 11 so arranged sothat any two adjacent bosses in each row can be employed to support anend of the shelf 6. In other words, each row preferably comprises atleast three vertically spaced bosses thus providing means for supportingthe shelf in either of two positions using, in the case of three bosses,the intermediate boss as part of the shelf support means in both shelfpositions. As the flange 14 of the shelf is too high to be convenientlyinserted between adjacent bosses for mounting of the shelf on a pair ofbosses below the uppermost boss in any given row, there is provided inat least one, and preferably both of vertical edges 20 of each of theshelf flanges 14 and approximately midway between the top and the bottomthereof a notch 21 of a size such that one of the bosses 11 will passthrough the 3' notch thus permitting the shelf to be moved horizontallyinto position within the recess below an upper boss. This action isillustrated in connection with the upper shelf in FIGS. 1 and 2 of thedrawing showing the position of the shelf as it is moved horizontallyduring mounting thereof within the recess 5. Thus, while any of theshelves 6 may be mounted on the upper pair of bosses of the opposed rowsmerely by inserting the shelf into the recess above these bosses andthen moving the shelf downwardly to the point where the upper bossesengage the connecting section 16 and the lower bosses are in latchingengagemeat with the projection 18, the spacing of adjacent bosses toprovide the proper support for the shelf when in its supported positionon the door is such that the shelf would be prevented from being movedinto its supporting position on any of pairs of bosses other than theupper pair of bosses in the absence of the notch 21.

Because at least two of the bosses 11 must engage each end of the shelffor the proper support thereof, means are also provided for preventingthe user from attempting to mount the shelf on only the lowermost bossof each row. For this purpose the lowermost boss on each row indicatedby the numeral 23 is larger, that is either higher or longer, than theremaining bosses so that it cannot pass through the notch 21 provided inthe inner flange 14 of the shelf. In the illustrated embodiment of theinvention the lower boss 23 is shown as being of a greater height thanthe remaining bosses so that it cannot pass through the notch 21. On theother hand, the lowermost bosses 23 should be of substantially the samewidth as the remaining bosses, in order that they can be receivedbetween the inner and outer flanges 14 and 15 to provide the propersupport for the lower portion of the front guard when the shelf ismounted on the lowermost pairs of bosses.

While there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes and modifications may be made therein without departingfrom the invention and it is therefore intended by the appended claim tocover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spiritand scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

In a shelving arrangement for use with a refrigerator door of the typehaving an outer shell and an inner liner including side and rear wallsdefining a recess and including at least one storage shelf, thatimprovement comprising supporting means formed integrally with said doorand said shelf and adapted to releasably mount said shelf at a pluralityof vertically spaced positions within said recess, said supporting meansincluding a row of at least three vertically spaced bosses formedintegrally on each side wall of said recess adjacent the front thereofwith said bosses on one row being horizontally aligned with said bossesof the other row, the lowermost boss in each of said rows being of alarger size than the remaining bosses, said shelf comprising a frontguard including vertically extending, substantially coextensive innerand outer flanges and a connecting portion interconnecting said flangesat the upper edges thereof, said flanges being spaced apart a distanceto fit over said bosses and being of a height such that when saidconnecting portion rests on opposite bosses in said rows thereof thelower edges of both of said flanges fit around and engage bosses in saidrows thereof next below said bosses engaged by said connecting portionto prevent tilting movement of said shelf relative to said door, saidinner flange including a notch midway in at least one side edge thereofof a size greater than the size of said remaining bosses but smallerthan said lowermost boss whereby said inner flange of said shelf can bemoved horizontally past any of said remaining bosses and into saidrecess for mounting of said shelf on vertically adjacent bosses belowthe upper bosses in said rows but cannot be moved past said lowermostbosses thereby preventing the user from attempting to mount said shelfonly on said lowermost bosses.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,453,387 Rundell Nov. 9, 1948 2,784,044 Kurowski Mar. 5, 1957 2,852,328Jewell Sept. 16, 1958

